Even the geeks get it

June 6, 2012 - John D'Agostino

Pretty dim if we continue on the path we are on, according to Mary Meeker, a longtime technology analyst at Morgan Stanley and now with the Kleiner Perkins venture-capital firm. Meeker spoke during last week's All Things Digital conference in California.

Despite all the advances made in technology over the recent years, Meeker pointed out one glowing problem facing the high-tech industry. It is "USA Inc.," the country with the "biggest peacetime gap between revenues and expenses, with entitlement spending swamping everything else," a June 4 Wall Street Journal piece noted by L. Gordon Cravitz.

"What gives me pause is that when we were born, 85 percent of households paid federal income taxes," Meeker told the digital conference audience. "Now, only 49 percent do. Soon more people will receive government aid than pay taxes. That scares me a lot."